Car-coupling.



(No Model.)

B. A. TOWER.

CAB COUPLING.

Patented Feb, l3, |900..

(Application filed Oct. 15, 1899.)

WITNESSES 4 Sheets-Sheet l.

Q INVENTOR No. 643,6l3. Patented Feb. I3, I900.

C. A. TOWER.

CAR COUPLING.

(Application filed )ct. 18, 1899.)

(No Model.)

\A b /A// 9 mvENfoR No. 643,6l3. Patented Feb. l3, I900. C. A. TOWER.

CAR COUPLING.

(Ap pli cation filed Oct. 18, 1899.) (No Model.) 4 Shaets8heet 3.

' Patent'ed Feb. I3, I900.-

no'. 643,6I3.

' c. A. TOWER.

CAR COUPLING.

' (Application filed Oct. 19, 1899.)

4 SheetsSheBf 4.

(No Model.)

INVENTOR 'in coupled position.

\ 'NITED Y STATES PATENT rFIcE.

CLINTON A. TOWER, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE NATIONAL MALLEABLE CASTINGS COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 643,613, dated February 13, 1900.

Application filed October 18, 1899. Serial No. 733,954. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CLINTON A. TOWER, of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in CarCouplers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanyin g drawings, forming part of this specification, in which ,Figure 1 is a plan View, partly in horizontal section, of two of my improved couplers Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line II II of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the knuckle. Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view looking upwardly, showing my improved coupler. Fig. 5 is a cross-section on the line V V of Fig. 1, the parts being in locked position. Fig. 6 is a similar view, the parts being unlocked and the knuckle swung open. Fig. 7 is a cross-section on line VII VII of Fig. 8, showing a modified construction of coupler employing an angled piece which extends outside the coupler-head, the parts being locked. Fig. 8 is a plan view thereof. Fig. 9 is a cross-section similar to Fig. 7 the parts being unlocked. Fig. 10 is a top plan'view of another modification. Fig. 11 is a crosssection on the line XI XI of Fig. 12. Fig. 12 is a top plan View of the same with the knuckle open. Fig. 13 is a front elevation of the end of a car with the coupler shown in Fig. 10 in open position.

The object of my invention is to provide means whereby the knuckle of a car-coupler may be locked and when desired may be unlocked and opened into position for recoupling without requiring the trainm an to go be tween the ends of the cars.

In the drawings, 2 represents the couplerhead, which may be of the usual type, having a knuckle 3, pivoted at 4 and adapted to swing from its open position (shown in Fig. 12) to the closed position, (shown in Fig. 1,) in which the tail of the knuckle is retained and locked within the recess of the couplerhead. For the purpose of locking the knuckle and when unlocked moving the knuckle open into position for recoupling I employ a locking device which, as shown in Figs. 1 to 6, is constituted by an angled piece set within the coupler-head, having a depending lockingarm 5 and an upper member 0, to which is attached the usual lifting rod or chain 7. The locking-arm 5 extends through a hole or recess 6 in the tail of the knuckle and when locked fits into a hole b in the floor of the coupler-head. The member 0 then bears against the interior of the coupler-head and coacts with the arm 5 to lock the knuckle. When it is desired to unlock and open the knuckle, the trainman raises the lifting rod or chain 7 by the usual lifting-lever, thus raising the angled piece in the coupler-head until the end of the arm 5 is lifted out of the hole I), thus releasing the knuckle. Further motion of the angled piece in the couplerhead causes its member 0 to engage a shoulder 8 in the top of the coupler-head, and still further lifting will cause it to tip on the fulcrum constituted by the shoulder 8, thus moving forwardly the arm 5, which fits within the hole in the knuckles tail and causes the knuckle to swing open. When the knuckle is again moved back, either by hand or by the operation of coupling with another car, the arm 5 is swung back with it until it again reaches a vertical position, whereupon it will drop so as to bring its end into the hole bin the floor of the coupler, thus restoring the parts into locked position.

For the purpose of enabling the coupler to be unlocked and set in unlocked position when the coupler is in engagement with the coupler of another car, so that the knuckle will automatically be opened when the cars are drawn apart, I form a shoulder 9 on the inner side of the arm 5 at an intermediate portion of its length. When the locking device is raised so as to clear the hole b in the floor of the coupler, this shoulder is raised slightly above the upper margin of the hole 6 in the tail of the knuckle, and as the position of the lifting chain or rod causes the arm 5 to have a forward tendency this shoulder will engage the upper surface of the knuckle and will support the locking-piece in unlocked position. When the knuckle is next moved open by the separation of the cars, its outward motion will disengage it from said shoulder, so that when the knuckle is again moved back the parts will automatically look. This form of my invention embodies certain features of construction which are claimed broadly in a prior patent, Reissue No. 11,477, granted to me on March 5,1895.

In Figs. '7 to 9 I showa modification of my invention in which the angled piece instead of being included entirely within the coupler-head has the member 0 above the couplerhead, the locking arm 5 extending down through a hole 5 in the top of the couplerhead through the hole 6 in the tail of the knuckle and into the hole Z) in the base of the.

coupler. Above the member 0 is a stop or shoulder S, fixed to orprojecting from standards on the top of the coupler-head, so that when the angled piece is raised its lockingarm 5 will first leave the hole Z), and then the member 0 will engage the shoulder S and will cause the angled piece to tip so as to move its arm 5 forwardly and to swing the knuckle open. \Vhen the knuckle is again closed, the arm 5 will be swung back, and when it reaches a vertical position the angled piece will drop, so as to bring the lower end of the arm 5 into locking position in the hole Z).

In Figs. 10 to 13 I show a third modification of my invention in which the looking-arm 5' is a straight pin, which when locked passes through the holes b b in the upper and lower parts of the coupler-head and through the intermediate hole or recess 6 in the tail of the knuckle. Vhen it is desired to unlock the coupler, the arm 5'is raised so as to pass above the hole Z) in the floor of the coupler, and then by lateral motion of the arm it is caused to tip on the fulcrum formed by the edge of the hole I) at the top of the couplerhead, thus causing the end of the arm to move forwardly and to push the knuckle open. IVhen this tipping motion takes place, the end of the arm has been raised out of the hole I) at the door of thecoupler-head, but is still in engagement with the hole 6 in the knuckles tail, so that the knuckle will be moved by the tipping of the arm. This tipping motion of the arm maybe effected in various ways. A convenient means for accomplishing it is shown in Fig. 13, in which the shaft 10 of the usual lifting-lever 11 is made longitudinally movable in its bearings 12, so that after the shaft has been rocked in the usual way for the purpose of raising the coupler-lock it may be pulled by the trainman in the direction of its length, so as to tip laterally the arm 5, thus effecting the operation of the parts without needing to go between the cars. When the knucklehas thus been opened, in order to set it in position for coupling with another car, the parts will remain in the position shown in Fig. 13 until the knuckle is again moved back, either by hand or automatically by engagement with the coupler of another ca Vhen the knuckle has been moved back into locking position, the end of the locking-arm 5 will-be brought again into position vertically above the hole I) at the base of the coupler-head and will then drop thereinto, so as to lock the knuckle.

The advantages of my invention consist in the simplicity and effectiveness of the mechanism, and those skilled in the art will understand that the principle thereof is capable of modification in various ways, since I believe I am the first to devise a coupler having a locking-arm which engages the couplerhead and the tail of the knuckle and which is capable of being raised so as to free itself from engagement with the coupler-head and then tipped so as to swing the knuckle open. In its specific construction the device thus differs from that shown in the drawings of my Reissue Patent No. 11,477, in which the angled locking-piece was constructed so as to hold the knuckle by a head on the upper member of the angled piece which fitted in front of and in contact with the tail of the knuckle, whereas in my present device the lockin g is done by the engagement of the locking-arm 5 with the knuckle and with the coupler-head.

I claim 1. A coupler having a knuckle and a locking-arm which passes through the knuckle and is adapted when locked to engage the coupler-head, and means adapted to raisesaid locking-arm and to tip the same to throw the knuckle when it has been disengaged from looking engagement with the coupler-head; substantially as described.

2. A coupler having a knuckle and a locking-arm which passes through the knuckle and is adapted when locked to engage a hole in the floor of the coupler-head, and means adapted to raise said locking-arm and to tip the same to throw the knuckle when it has been disengaged from looking engagement with the coupler-head; substantially as de* scribed.

3. A coupler having a knuckle, and an angled piece having no bearing on the front side of the knuckle-tail but having a lockingarm making locking engagement with the knuckle-tail to the rear of said front side, means for lifting the angled piece, and a shoulder or surface which it engages when lifted, whereby the locking-arm is caused to tip to throw the knuckle; substantially as described.

4:. A coupler having a knuckle, a lockingarm extending downwardly in looking engagement with the knuckle and adapted when locked to engage the coupler-head, and a fulcrum on the draw-head against which the arm is adapted to tip and to move the knuckle forwardly, means for so tipping the locking-arm, and a supporting-shoulder on an intermediate portion of the length of the locking-arm adapted, when the locking-arm is raised, to engage the knuckle and to support the locking-arm in unlocked position; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. CLINTON A. TOWER.

Witnesses:

O. K. BROOKS,

JEANNETTE SACHEROFF'. 

